The Pacific Symphony's upcoming performances of Puccini's perennial tearjerker are part of an unusual and ambitious project, dubbed "Symphonic Voices," now in its second year. The project aims to bring opera back to our opera-deprived metropolis. It isn't easy. It isn't cheap. There are a lot of moving parts. But the orchestra thinks it's necessary.

"When Opera Pacific left the cultural and artistic life of Orange County, everyone lost," the Pacific Symphony's music director, Carl St.Clair, said recently, referring to the county's only major opera company, which produced opera here for 22 seasons before shutting down in late 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis. As the dust settled, and it became clear that Opera Pacific would not re-emerge, the Pacific Symphony convened a town meeting of local opera leaders and supporters to look for an answer.

"Symphonic Voices" was what they came up with. The orchestra's many-pronged initiative's most prominent undertaking is an annual production of a semi-staged opera in Segerstrom Concert Hall as part of its regular subscription season, with opera veteran St.Clair at the helm and an imported cast of singers taking the stage. Last year's production of "La Bohème" sold out two of its three performances. There is an appetite for opera here.

The trick for St.Clair is choosing the right operas to perform. They must fit into the normal 2- to 21/2-hour time frame of a symphony concert, he said, so operas such as "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung" are out. To keep costs down, they also must be able to be rehearsed during the orchestra's regular rehearsal schedule, meaning they have to be up onstage in less than a week (which, in turn, necessitates hiring singers who are already veterans in their parts). But most important, the operas performed must work well in a semi-staged format.

For St.Clair, that's an opera where "the real driving drama is not how a set or a costume looks, but it's more of the interactions between the various characters." The orchestra, since it sits onstage, behind the singers, also must have a "vital role" in the drama, not merely accompany the singer, he said. "Bohème" and "Tosca" meet those requirements.

Making lemonade

What is semistaged opera? Traditionally, "semi-staged" opera means a pared-down production, using minimal or no props, costumes and sets, and basic blocking for the singers.

Eric Einhorn, a staff director at the Metropolitan Opera who is directing the Pacific Symphony's "Tosca," has his own answer.

"There is no such thing as semi-staged; it's sort of like (saying) you're a little bit pregnant," Einhorn said, meaning you either stage the opera or you present it in concert.

Einhorn chooses to see the limitations imposed on him for this "Tosca" as an opportunity "to customize the piece" to the venue. Segerstrom Concert Hall was designed without the theatrical apparatus (flies, curtains, a proscenium stage) necessary for a full-scale opera production.

"We're making a batch of lemonade," Einhorn said of his "Tosca." He will use a large video screen for projections, suggesting locations. He plans to use various platforms onstage, and the singers will not only perform in front of the orchestra but within it, from the balconies and from the choral terrace.

"I want it to feel like everything is a part of the show," Einhorn said.

"For instance, the offstage singing that happens in Act II, when we hear Tosca and the chorus singing the cantata for the queen, the plan right now is to put that in one of the reverberation chambers in the hall, and to light that in a way that's interesting and exciting, so it all becomes part of the experience."

But more than anything, Einhorn said this semi-staged version will give him the chance to forge a more intimate "Tosca," to work on line readings with the singers and the relationships between the characters.

Carl St.Clair is leading the charge to keep opera alive in Orange County. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Soprano Maija Kovalevska sings in last season's semistaged production of "La Boheme" with the Pacific Symphony at Segerstrom Concert Hall. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
English soprano Claire Rutter will sing the title role in the Pacific Symphony's performances of "Tosca." JOHN STODDART
Baritone George Gagnidze plays the villain Scarpia in the Pacific Symphony's performances of "Tosca." BERN UHLIG
American bass-baritone Ryan Kuster takes the role of Angelotti in the Pacific Symphony's performances of "Tosca." COURTESY OF THE PACIFIC SYMPHONY
American tenor Brian Jagde sings the role of Cavaradossi in Pacific Symphony's performances of Puccini's "Tosca." COURTESY OF THE PACIFIC SYMPHONY

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